HMT Teutonic
From Our Contribution
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Teutonic |
| Owner | Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff, Belfast |
| Launched | 19 Jan 1889 |
| Completed | 25 July 1889 |
| In service | 1889 |
| Out of service | 1921 |
| Fate | scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean Liner |
| Tonnage | 9,984 tons |
| Length | 582 ft (177.7m) |
| Beam | 57.7 ft (17.6m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 20.5 knots (37.97 km/h) |
| Capacity | 300 x 1st; 190 x 2nd; 1,000 x 3rd class |
Remarks
Built for the White Star Line to be used on the trans Atlantic Liverpool to New York route. Although she could carry 1,490 passengers, she was also the UK's first ship built to readily converted to an armed Merchant Cruiser and as such she carried eight 4.7" guns whenever they were required. During the Boer War she served as a troop transport. Remarkably, she also encountered a tsunami which was high enough to wash two lookouts out of the crows nest, yet survive without any other loss due to it being evening with no one on deck. In 1913 she very narrowly avoided an iceberg, passing within 6 metres of it in dense fog.
On 20th September 1914 she was requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser, refitted with 6" guns, and served with the 10th Cruiser Squadron when World War I began, Teutonic never returned to White Star service. The Admiralty purchased her outright on 16th August 1915 and used her as a convoy escort. In 1918, she was taken over by the Shipping Controller as a troopship and placed under White Star's management.
Laid up at Cowes, Isle of Wight in 1921 and was scrapped later the same year at Emden.